Dirt Wurx Prepares for Snowy Salt Lake SX

By Cycle News Staff | 4/29/2010 6:52 PM

After a marathon clean-up job to get Seattle’s Qwest Field back into pristine order, Rich Winkler and the DIRT WURX USA crew packed up and drove 1,000 miles straight through to Salt Lake City and, with no sleep, built the Rice-Eccles Stadium SX track in 16-hours on Tuesday.

“The build went flawlessly,” said Winkler. “And 16 hours is as fast as we’ve ever built a supercross track,” adding that the clay/loam dirt combo at Salt Lake City was ideal for the quick build.

Why the asses-and-elbows rush? No sooner did the Feld Motor Sports crew get the track covered with plastic than it started to snow. And more snow, with mostly rain, is expected through the week until Saturday when forecasts says it’s supposed to clear up for race day.

A “team effort,” according to Winkler, contractor and Utah local Kurt Kitchens, who’s father, Jim Kitchens built the original supercross tracks with promoter Mike Goodwin, had the plywood laid down on the athletic field and road base gravel put down by the time DIRT WURX USA rolled in. And Kurt Kitchens, who’s been around supercross for nearly 40-some years, was impressed with the effort put forth by Winkler’s team and the Feld crew.

“To see it go up so fast, without any shortcuts, was pretty amazing,” said Kitchens of JPD Construction, Inc.

Said Winkler: “Yeah, I’m pretty proud of my guys. We took what we’d normally spread out over a 50 to 60-hour work week and packed it all into one long-assed 16-hour day. And we all pretty much hit it out of the park.”

For more information on supercross, including tickets to this weekend’s Salt Lake City event, link to www.supercrossonline.com